Numerous news stories have documented suicides among servicemembers and vets returning from Iraqi and Afghanistan. The VA has carried out a number of suicide prevention initiatives, including: establishing a national suicide prevention hotline for vets, conducting awareness events at VA medical centers, and screening and assessing vets for suicide risk.

The suicide rate has climbed measurably across all sectors of the military over the past few years, McClatchy reports. Suicides overall increased by 26 percent from 2008 to 2009, while suicides among Marines have more than doubled since 2005. Top Army and Marine Corps officials in June 2010 proposed several solutions to erase the social stigma associated with mental health illnesses and to combat the less visible wounds of war.

This report’s contents: Hearing to receive testimony on the status of our efforts to prevent military suicides and the challenges in detection, treatment, and management of the so-called ‘‘invisible wounds of war,’’ which are considered to include traumatic brain injury, and concussive events, post-traumatic stress, and other combat-related psychological health concerns.